PPL Electric wins Edison Award from EEI
PPL Electric Utilities was awarded the annual Edison Award, the electric power industry’s highest honor, bestowed annually by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI).
Selected by a panel of former energy industry executives, the award was presented to PPL this week during EEI 2023, the institute’s annual thought leadership forum, held in Austin.
Last October, PPL Electric became the first electric company in the United States to install and integrate a dynamic line rating (DLR) system within its transmission management system (TMS) into market operations. This enabled the company to optimize the operation of its transmission lines by using accurate real-time ratings. Traditional conservative static ratings can result in transmission lines being underutilized during periods of high demand.
“PPL Electric is leading by example with this dynamic line ratings project,” EEI President and CEO Tom Kuhn said. “By demonstrating the accuracy and effectiveness of this innovative technology, other energy grid operators now are able to evaluate how this solution might enhance their systems.”
Currently, PPL Electric is sending hourly day-ahead ratings forecasts to PJM Interconnection’s market operations to help coordinate more efficient generation and ensure reliability. The functionalities and methodologies the company developed and implemented while integrating DLR into real-time and day-ahead market operations with PJM are novel for the U.S. electric power industry.
“Our dynamic line rating system is an innovative solution that optimizes our current transmission system to help us avoid the need for transmission line rebuild and improvement projects,” PPL Electric Utilities President Stephanie Raymond said. “We are proud to be the first electric company in the United States to use a dynamic line rating in real-time operations and day-ahead markets. PPL Electric is honored to be recognized with this year’s Edison Award for the work we are doing to provide reliable, safe, and competitively priced energy to our customers and the communities we serve every day.”
Also, at its annual meeting, EEI named a new chair of the Board of Directors for 2023-24: Pedro Pizarro, president and CEO of Rosemead, Calif.-based Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison (SCE). He replaces Warner Baxter, executive chairman of St. Louis-based Ameren Corp. Maria Pope, president and CEO of Portland, Ore.-based Portland General Electric, was elected vice chair.
“There is incredible work underway to implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the new clean energy tax credits in ways that enable deep carbon emissions reductions across our economy,” Pizarro said. “It is an exciting time to be in energy, and I am confident that America’s electric companies are well-positioned to drive the innovation and investments that are needed to deliver an affordable and resilient clean energy future to customers.”
Pizarro served as president of SCE from October 2014 through May 2016 before becoming CEO of Edison International in October 2016. He serves on the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC), which is the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power industry to prepare for and respond to national-level disasters or threats to critical infrastructure. Pizarro earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and held National Science Foundation and Department of Defense graduate fellowships. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Harvard University. Pizarro first was elected an EEI vice chair in June 2020.
Pope, president and CEO of Portland General Electric, sits on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Secretary of Energy Advisory Board and serves as co-chair of EEI’s Wildfire CEO Taskforce and the ESCC’s Wildfire Working Group. She is also chair of the Electric Power Research Institute, and sits on the boards of Columbia Banking System, the Oregon Business Council, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Portland Branch. She is a graduate of Stanford Graduate School of Business and earned a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.
